I went bananas over these when I saw them online, and even further bananas when ALDO revealed that they do not ship from the store. But Kristin SF came to my rescue and very very kindly picked them up and shipped them to me!

I just got them from the PO Box today, and although they are pretty darned awesome, they are a fair bit more sparkly than they appeared online. Not that I dislike that at all, but it's a little outside my comfort zone... although that might be good to dress things up a bit?

Returns are to original form of payment, so I am posting this under "urgent" thinking if you hate them I would return to Kristin's card in lieu of messing with Paypal-ing back and forth.

I have been a bit under the weather, so there was not tremendous styling effort here. I think a silk blouse would also look nice to echo the sheen on top.

My car was parked on the wrong side this morning, so I am backlit! Doh!

But in other news, I decided to (partially) solve my Fall-boredom-Spring-jumping-the-gun ambivalence by celebrating one of my favorite transitional items: booties. To do this, I'm going to try and wear a different pair of short boots every day until I run out and have to repeat. Soon, it will be Time to Wear Sandals (so many of my inspiration outfits use a simple black sandal!), so I wanted to let all my booties have their time in the sun.

Since the outfit pic is lightened so much, I included stock photos of my pieces.

No work today, so DH and I had lunch out and then took a stroll at the outlet mall looking to stock up on his favorite shoes.

I am still nowhere near tired of my Brahmin, but I have been itching to change things up, so I pulled out my recently neglected snake satchel for the day. Paired with my favorite jeans and a breezy sleeveless top. It is fun to look at the outfit photos and see a much softer overall effect without the bold stripes of my bag. I guess I am still a bag lady at heart and still believe it can change the entire vibe of the day!

While DH was shoe hunting, I peeped into the Coach, Michael Kors, and Kate Spade factory stores. Nothing caught my eye at the two former, but this little citron Kate Spade lured me in enough to get me to note the details and take a photo. I didn't buy it since a citron bag has been a long term hunt for me, but what do you think? I also am curious about the Coach in #4, although that one is significantly more expensive.

Since we barely had any winter at all here in LA, I feel as if I've been wearing my same Fall formulas since July, when we first started selling Fall items at NAS. My boredom with my Fall clothes finally won out over my perverse desire to get more wear out of my now-obsolete winter items.

Soooo... these sweatpants came out to play earlier than expected - with black and with booties for now (I'll save the whites and sandals for nearer to the 2nd quarter).

As an aside, I was super happy to nab these sweats on sale and with a Nordies Note, enabling me to stretch the Spring budget. Woohoo!

My favorite way to wear these pants is with my dark turquoise Muubaa, but I thought I had to save that for a blue focus at work (I was mistaken, but I found that out too late). I do really like the extra soft effect of all the flowy pieces together, though!

Talk about seasonally confused... this year I'm finding myself in the dead of winter calendar-wise, but in heat like the summer, and surrounded by spring fashions on the sales floor.

I am not sure what to do - insist on getting wear out of my sweaters and boots while I can get away with it? Go with the flow and pretend it's summer? Embrace a role as a walking catalogue and stick with the spring items on the shelves? I don't want to get bored with my S/S capsule before S/S has truly begun... but let's be honest, it feels totally weird to gear up in woolies in these temps. And I am kind of itching to bust out my new spring digs.

The outfit is from a few days ago, but I'd forgot to post the pic - this is Janet's sheer print top from the Style Exchange a while back (waving at Janet!). I had Big Plans to debut this with either cream jeans or some light gray dressy sweatpants, but life had other thoughts on the matter.

I'd already worn my other blazers earlier in the week and needed something slightly dressier than usual for a Theory-based appointment. The sheer print and longer length felt very nice with my Theory skinny pants and was comfy and well-ventilated. Win!

Trouve blazer - NordiesBellatrix sheer top - Janet (fairly sure this was once sold at Nordies) - most similar current work item here.Theory Estela New Recovery pants - Ebay - similar hereBrahmin satchel - Nordies - similar hereTimberland booties - Sierra Trading Post - similar here (also comfy but order 1/2 size up)

Thanks again, Janet! Looking forward to wearing this a lot to add a dressy, feminine feel to a variety of more casual bottoms, too. :D

The E&J tunic has a similar shadow-pattern, and the Joie jeans are a lovely, creamy white. I found the placement of the cargo pockets super flattering on my thighs and might have to pounce on the mink color.

About

I'm just your average working stiff who loves nice things and hates to pay for them. This blog outlines my efforts to navigate that treacherous shopping/saving divide through swappin', thriftin', and even a little resellin'. Many of the pieces in my wardrobe cost me just $1! We've heard a lot about people "living above their means" in recent years; I'm championing the concept of living large *below* your means - whatever that means for you. :)

lookfab.com was inspired by the members of the youlookfab forum, who share our belief that style is beyond shape, size, age and budget, and above all, that fashion should be fun!